Shears attachment eor puers



H. L. HOWARD.

. S HEARS ATTACHMENT FOR PLIERS.

APPLICATION HLED APR. 3.1919.

1,321,745. Patented Nov. 11, 1919.

HARRY L. HOWARD, 0F LANSING, MICHIGAN.

SHEABS ATTACHMENT Iron Pumas.

Specification of Letters Patent Patented Nov. 11, 1919.

application filed April 3, 1919. Serial No. 287,153.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY L. HowARD,'a citizen of the United States, residing at Lansing, in the county of Ingham and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shears Attachment for Pliers, of which the followingis a specification.

The object of the present invention is to provide an attachment in the form of a shearing device applicable to a conventional tool, such as a pair of pliers.

In brief the idea in mind is to so construct the attachment mentioned that it may be readily slipped upon and secured to the pliers without necessitating any modification of the latter to permit of the combination, and in this way to obtain an additional tool or implement when required which is operable by means of one which is usually at hand or forms a part of nearly every tool kit.

This and such other objects as may hereinafter appear are attained by the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter specifically described and claimed. Reference will now he had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, wherein:

Figure l is a side elevation showing the application of my device to a pair of pliers;

Fig. 2 is an elevation view of the unitary attachment itself;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the seat or clip for receiving the jaw of the pliers; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the spring connecting member for holding the attachment in place upon the pliers.

Throughout the following detail description and on the several figures of thedrawings, similar parts are referred to by like reference characters.

In the drawing 1 indicates a pair of pliers of conventional form and construction, most commonly known as the long nose slip joint type. While the invention is particularly adapted for application to this style of tool, it will be obvious that its use is not neces-. sarily restricted to this particular construction. In fact, as will be described hereinafter, provision is made for its application. to a pair of pliers having different jaw mem bers and for this reason I do not wish to be limited unnecessarily except as required bythe scope of the claims forming a part of this application.

The attachment which forms the subjectmatter of this invention is unitary in construction, that is, complete in itself, and oonslsts of a pair of blade members 2, 3 plvoted at one end as indicated at 4. One of the blade members, 2, is provided with an arcuate slot 5, in which a pin 6 mounted 1n the arm or plate 7 attached to the pivot 4 operates. Each blade member adjacent to its pivot end has secured thereto a jawrecelvlng seat or clip 8 more particularly shown in Fig. 4. In the construction of this particular attachment the clip is provided with an elongated slot 9, in which the edge of the blade is riveted so as to securely hold the clip in place.- The bottom surface of this clip is preferably serrated as indicated at 10 so as to cooperate with the serrations usually provided on the jaws of the pliers, thereby to prevent slippage. Since the attachment is applicable to pliers of different shapes, the jaws of which may vary in width, I preferably provide some means in the clip 8 for taking up play. In the embodiment shown in the drawings the means consist of bent springs 11 secured to the sides of the clip as shown clearly in Figs. 3 and'4. Any other desired means may be employed for this purpose within the purview of this invention. The attachment is held in place, as shown in Fig. 1, by means of resilient connecting members, one of which is shown in Fig. 5, the same consisting of a spring 12 and a U-shaped gripping element 13, the latter being 'engageable over that portion of the jaw which is attenuated just in rear of the nose portion, the shoulder 14 of which prevents the displacement of the connecting member when it is attached in place as shown in Fig. 1.

In order to provide for the application of this attachment to pliers, for example, of the short nose type, each blade is formed with a slot 15, one edge of which is provided with depressions as indicated at 16 to receive the connecting end of the sprlng 12.

In other words, where the jaw member is of the type last mentioned the end of the spring is engaged in one of the depressions 16 relatively distant from the inner end of the slot so as tobring the end of the jaw or nose against the rear edge 17 of the cutaway portion of the blade.

It will be obvious from the foregoing that l the simple little attachment just described pIe mentJ From the standpoint of economy it is obvious that the. attachment may be cheaply manufactured and yet will perform the desired result very efficiently, because the shearing attachment will cut practically anything from paper to light-welght metals. It is'very easily and quickly, attached or removed from the pliers and by means of the provision of the spring connecting members tension is placed'upon the blades, tending to hold the shearing attachment in open position." V 7 It should be added in conclusion that the device works most advantageously when the slip joint type of pliers is employed and the jaws of said pliers are adjusted to their most open'position.

Further,that the'provision of a spring ll at each side of theclips results in the taking up of play equally at each side, or holds the blade'members in theproperrelative position with respect to the plier jaws. The advantage'of such arrangement lies in the fact that this brings the side of a blade in substantially the sameplane as the inside-surface 'of' the pliers just in rear of the shoulder 14. By the attachment of a shear device to pliers of this form one. is

' able to cut much closer than could be done with the ordinary snips because a far less degree of spreading of the material is caused. That is to say, in cutting a long piece of tin, for instance, the cut metal at o'neside passes back and up alongside of theinnersurface of the thinner portion of the j aw Ijust'in rear of'the jaw shoulder 14,

'while the metal at the other side similarly passes back and downwardly along the inner' side of the same portion of the other jaw. The facility of cuttingaction is therefore enhanced in this attachment.

. Lastly, the provision of the stop pin 6 is important because it serves to regulate the extent of opening and closing of the plier aws. On the ione'hand, if the jaws, and

. necessarily the blades, are opened too far,

the pivot of the pliers may slip, while on the other hand if closed too far therewould be. a .strain on the pivot 4; of the blades or possibility of'the'cutting edge of the blades coming into contact withthe clip 8.

j ,H'avi ngthus described my invention, what I claim. as new is:

1. The combination with a tool having perable. J's- 9f a n ta y. attac e therefor comprising a pair of members each of which is formed with a jaw-receiving seat applicable to the tool jaws aforesaid, and means detachably engageable with the tool adjacentto the jaws to hold the members in place upon said jaws to be operated thereby.

2. The combination with a tool having a pair of jaws andhandles for operating the same, of an attachment comprising a pair of cooperating elements each formed with a jaw-receiving clip engageable with the respective tool jaws, and tension means connected to the attachment and removably. engageable with the tool to hold the attachment in place, the elements thereof being operable by means of the tool handles aforesaid.

3. The combination with a tool having a pair of jaws, of a shears attachment comprising a pair of blade members arranged to cooperate with the jaws of the tool, and tension means forming a part of the attachment connecting the blade members to the tool and tending to hold the blade members in open position.

l. The combination with apair of pliers, of a shears attachment therefor comprising a pair of blade members pivotally connected together, means on said blade members in which the jaws of the pliers are received for attachment, and adjustable connecting means intermediate each blade member and the tool holding the attachment in place thereon.

5. Thecombination with a pair of pliers, of a shears attachment therefor comprising a pair of blade members pivotally connected together, means on said blade members in which the jaws of. the pliers are received for attachment, adjustable connecting means intermediate each blade member and the tool holding the attachment in place thereon, and means on the jaw-receiving means aforesaid to take up play between said means and the jaws of the pliers.

6. As a new article of manufacture, a shears attachment for pliers comprising a pair of blade members pivotally connected at one end, and a spring connection connected to each blade and engagcable with the pliers to hold the attachment in place.

7. As a new article of manufacture, a shears attachment for pliers comprising a pair of blade members pivotally connected at one end, a spring connection connected to each blade and engageable with the pliers to hold the attachment in place, each blade member having a seat to receive the coacting jaw member of the pliers, and means for adjustment of the spring connection to regulate the. tension of the latter.

8. The combination with a pair of pliers,

of a shears attachment therefor comprising a pa r of blade members, means attaching v said blade members to the pliers, and stop means on one of the blade members co-acting With the other blade member to regulate the extent of opening and closing of the plier jaws.

9. The combination With a pair of pliers, of a shears attachment therefor comprising a pair of blades pivotally connected and operable by the pliers, means detachably connecting the attachment to the jaws of 10 the pliers, and stop means coacting With the blades adjacent to their pivot and limiting the movements of the blades produced by the pliers.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature. 15

HARRY L. HOWARD.

Copies 0! this patent may be ebtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Vi'anhingtan D. 0. 

